Farewell Uncle Monty

As my friends know, I am firmly a part of the cult of Bruce Robinson's Withnail & I, having seen the film for the first time as a teenager at a cinema on Baker Street in London. I've seen it countless times since, and have a framed poster from the film (a Ralph Steadman illustration) hanging…Read More

Spring Breakers review

Written and directed by Harmony KorineFrom celebrated American indie iconoclast Korine, responsible for bizarro gems like Gummo and Trash Humpers, Spring Breakers arrives as probably his most broadly accessible work. And people are still going to have big problems with it, because it refuses to be one thing.The picture works as both a celebration of the…Read More

Olympus Has Fallen review

Directed by Antoine FuquaWritten by Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin BenediktIt's been awhile since I've seen such an egregiously lunkheaded movie as Olympus Has Fallen. Happy to let its talented cast deliver recycled, leaden dialogue and go through the motions of a recycled, leaden plot, its real failing goes beyond that, because a movie can be…Read More

Stoker review

Directed by Park Chan-Wook | Written by Wentworth Miller and Erin Cressida Wilson | 98 min | On Demand A little like if Dark Shadows was played totally straight, Stoker is a concoction both fluffy and gothic, a self-conscious Hitchcock pastiche that dances on the edge of camp before eventually becoming the thing it pretends to be. Park…Read More

Dead Man Down review

Directed by Niels Arden OplevWritten by JH WymanThere were a few things that drew me to this relatively unheralded release in the wasteland of Hollywood's March schedule. Oplev is the director of the first adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the Swedish edition. The trailer had a promising sheen to it. And I don't think…Read More

A Cult of One: Tequila Sunrise

The last one of these digressions was also a Michelle Pfeiffer movie, but you shouldn't expect a pattern.  Here's one that the critics were particularly cool on—it remains at 44% on Rotten Tomatoes. But it's a film that deserves a cult. I'm happy to be in it, even if I'm the only one. Tequila Sunrise…Read More

Charlie Zone opens

A heads up for FITI readers living in Halifax, Cape Breton or Toronto, Michael Melski's thriller Charlie Zone is opening today at a cinema near you.It's a tale of the dark underbelly of Halifax, one that I totally believe exists but is rarely represented in locally made movies. I think the last time I took…Read More